Chapter 7: Self-Regulation & The Environment
ECE5J Course Learning Outcome
- Prepare and implement guidance strategies that maintain a healthy sense of self.
The environment may be a key factor to analyze in regard to self-regulation. It has the power to contribute to self-regulation or disrupt self-regulation. Just as you find yourself calmer in different locations (i.e., your home, outside, etc.), children do as well.
The environment plays an important role in contributing to how we feel and, in turn, how we behave.
Let’s practice the impact of the environment on ourselves through the activity below.
Growing Activity
Choose one of the following activities to complete (or do them both!):
Learning in Different Spaces
Choose three different areas in your home to read and study in. Spend 15 minutes studying or reading in each space, and pay attention to how your concentration, comfort, and productivity changes depending on the environment.
- Study in your kitchen for 15 mins. Reflect on your concentration, comfort and productivity.
- Study in your bedroom for 15 mins. Reflect on your concentration, comfort and productivity.
- Study outside for 15 mins. Reflect on your concentration, comfort and productivity.
Lastly, reflect on how each environment impacted your focus and learning.
Sound & Focus
Take a book (or textbook), and read and make notes in three different times, with different noise levels around you.
- For the first session, read and make notes in complete silence.
- For the second session, read and make notes using soft background music.
- For the third session, read and make notes with a TV playing loud.
Lastly, reflect on how each environment impacted your focus and learning.
When we complete activities like the one above, it helps us to reflect on the impact of the environment on our learning. When we notice changes in our learning, it highlights the importance of environmental factors on children.
“Think about light, colour, sound, walls, room arrangement, furniture, and temperature; all of these can affect children. Be sure to provide quiet spaces, private spaces, personal spaces, spaces pleasing to look at, space for physical movement, space for sensory motor (sand/water), mirrored spaces, and spaces that encourage collaborating. And remember to consider the children’s personalities, home life, and family/culture when developing environments” (Penn State Extension, n.d.). Sometimes, the simple act of changing the environment can make a monumental difference for a child.
“The influences you support in self-regulation can make a positive difference each day” (Penn State Extension, n.d.).
Read, Reflect, and Reimagine:
Read the article about a teacher who has completed an environmental checklist and found a unique and creative learning environment for her students!
Growing Activity:
Complete an environmental self-regulation checklist in your current classroom. If you do not have a current classroom, choose a classroom you have been in a placement, or think of the last classroom you were in:
This checklist was created by Dr. Stuart Shanker to be used by educators in the classroom.
The outdoors is an important environmental factor to consider with children, and studies support the calming nature of the outdoors as having a significant positive impact on children.
“A growing body of research suggests that connecting to the natural world contributes to children’s mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health and well-being (Louv, 2005). Children’s natural curiosity and sense of wonder can be fostered by providing many opportunities to learn outdoors. The learning that takes place in classroom experiences can be explored in the “extended classroom” that nature provides” (Ontario Ministry of Education, 2016).
Reflect
Activity Text
How does your mood change when you go outside?
Read, Reflect, and Reimagine:
Read the article about a teacher who, not only brings her class outside, but also acknowledges the importance of reflective practice in the outdoors.
